Fading Bonds
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: Quinton had been Kaito's teacher, mentor, big brother figure, and best friend for several months. However, one thing leads to another after Kaito displays a power none have seen before, and Quinton's painful memories are dredged up as a result.


**Zexal Oneshot**

**Fading Bonds**

**Angst**

**Kaito/Quinton/**

**Quinton had been Kaito's teacher, mentor, big brother figure, and best friend for several months. However, one thing leads to another after Kaito displays a power none have seen before, and Quinton's painful memories are dredged up as a result.**

**(Don't own Zexal. If I did, this would have been Quinton's explanation for Kaito's power surge during his duel with Kaninja. Not the whole 'He's a True Duelist' thing we were given instead.)**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**A/N I was reading this with my sister and decided to edit Quinton's memory of Thomas. Hopefully, it'll make more sense.**

Fading Bonds

Quinton couldn't believe what he had seen. Only a moment ago, Kaito was on the ground, gasping for breath. Their duel had taken a heavy toll on his body, evidence supplied being the cuts and tears in his clothing and on his body. He would have been lucky enough to stand up, but Quinton kept ordering him to get back on his feet. He may have sounded stern and uncaring, but he was doing it for Kaito's own good.

Kaito eventually did as he was told. He stood up, but he was engulfed in a blood red glow, his eyes shining like bright blue stars. His heart rate was off the charts, according to what the people monitoring the duel had said. His gaze was like that of a zombie, something that sent shivers down Quinton's spine. "Kaito?" Quinton asked slowly. "Are you...feeling alright?"

Kaito didn't speak a word in response to that question. "Kaito?" Quinton asked, his voice bordering on fear.

Kaito then placed his hand on his disk. "Ore no turn," he said. "Draw!" His voice was closer to a whisper than it was to a cry. "I play Monster Reborn. Arise, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

The chosen monster reappeared on the field. Then it looked at its master with a sad expression. (This surprised Quinton. The most he thought that that dragon could pull off was the 'I want to eat your for my supper' look.)

As soon as the monster returned to the field, the glow around Kaito vanished. All that remained in its wake was a heavily exhausted Kaito, who then fell back to the ground in a heap. "Kaito!" Quinton screamed, running over to his protege.

He discarded the Duel Disk and D-Gazer he was wearing and ran over to Kaito's side. Then he slowly lifted him up. Kaito's face was pale and sweaty. The expression he was wearing was that which Quinton had seen on Haruto on a bad day. Mental fatigue and who knows what else. He felt Kaito's forehead. The young teen was burning up. He scowled and directed his attention to the overseers for the duel. "Get a medic!" he yelled. "And hurry it up!"

"R-Right, Quinton-san!" one of the workers said.

Quinton then looked back down to his student. "Kaito," he said softly.

Kaito head was limp in Quinton's arms.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The medic team came in under several minutes. It was only when Quinton was sure that the medics were ready to help Kaito did he dare to let him go. After examining him for a few moments, they rolled Kaito out on a wheeled bed so they could take him to the medical room in Heartland Tower. (Same place where Haruto went after the whole Tron incident.) Quinton took hold of Kaito's pale hand as they neared the medical room. "Don't worry, Kaito," he said. "They're going to help you."

Instantly, Kaito's grip around Quinton's hand tightened. His eyes opened about halfway, but they still met Quinton's nonetheless. "H-Haruto," he breathed.

"Huh?" went Quinton.

"Watch Haruto for me," Kaito said, his mind slipping into unconsciousness. Then the tension in his hand faded as his eyes closed yet again. Quinton stopped following them after that, Kaito's plea ringing through his head.

He knew what Kaito had requested of him. He was trusting him to watch his little brother until he got better. Or, if something went wrong, maybe even longer. No. Quinton didn't want to think about that. Kaito would definitely get better. He couldn't lose any more brothers. Turning his head to face the long hallway, he gulped at the thought of going up to Haruto at that point. He only hoped the child was sound asleep without a care in the world.

But then again, no luck is pretty. In fact, with Quinton, it was always out to get him. He follows his father down to a job that he was doing with his friends; only Faker comes out alive. He goes home to his brothers and tell them everything's going to be alright; they get taken to an orphanage against their will. He makes friends with Kaito and Haruto; Kaito faints during a duel and gets sent to the medical room. (Not to mention Haruto's already sick.) He goes up to Haruto's room, hoping he's asleep; he'd never seen the kid more awake.

Haruto looked over to Quinton with the same blank stare he gave Kaito. "Quinton Nii-san," he said. "Where's Kaito?"

Quinton knew Kaito's schedule. Every day, at three, like clockwork, Kaito would go up to see Haruto and make sure he was alright. Unfortunately for him, that time was three PM exactly. Why did fate hate him so? Quinton took a deep breath and walked over to Haruto. "Kaito isn't feeling very good," he said.

"Is Kaito sick?" Haruto asked, his face taking on more human features instead of statue ones.

"He might be," Quinton said, placing his hands on Haruto's shoulders, just like Kaito so often did.

Haruto pulled himself away. "Where is Kaito?!" he asked, his face now taking on Kaito's expression when Haruto gets into some kind of trouble.

"He's in the medical room," Quinton said.

With that, Haruto started running – no, sprinting – over to the elevator so he can help his brother. "Haruto!" Quinton nearly screamed. (Kaito's rubbing off.) He jumped over and stopped Haruto with a quick grab to the child's waist. "You can't see Kaito yet," he continued, doing his best to sound as in control as possible. "He's getting examined, to make sure he's alright. You can see him after."

Haruto shook his head violently. "No!" he said. "Kaito...Kaito would go up against a gorilla if it meant getting to me if I was in trouble." (Deja vu anybody?) "It's only right I do at least that much for him." Then he turned back to the elevator.

This time, however, he was followed by Quinton. "Then let's go together," he said. "Kaito told me to keep an eye on you anyway."

Haruto then smiled in a way he hadn't smiled before. Then he and Quinton went down in the elevator and started for the medical room.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As they approached the medical room, Quinton overheard a conversation near the door. One of the voices, he knew all too well. Heartland. Kaito once called him 'Devilman' in his sleep. (Quinton nearly burst a lung from suppressing his laughter after that incident.) "So, the older brother has a power too?" Heartland asked.

"Y-Yes," another answered. Definitely a doctor. Quinton never heard his voice before. ←[Never has to go to the doctor. 100% healthy.] "It would appear that the duel triggered his power somehow."

"I'm surprised we didn't catch on earlier," Heartland said. "Have you ascertained what his power is yet?"

"N-No," the doctor answered. "The power fell back to sleep after the duel had ended."

Why was Quinton not surprised that Heartland was the one to ask questions about the whole 'power' thing instead of questioning Kaito's health? He'd sooner expect a Duel Monsters card to come crawling out of its cardboard packaging and demand to see Kaito then Heartland asking about it. He was buried so deeply in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed Haruto running over to the doors to the medical room. "May I see Kaito Nii-san?" Haruto asked.

Quinton forgot how well-mannered Haruto was. Must have got that from his time with Kaito. Whenever Quinton was working with Kaito alone, such as studying his schoolwork in the Heartland Tower library or dueling without supervision, (Which Quinton would actually get **fired** for if Heartland found out.) he found that Kaito had an innate habit for kindness and good manners. In fact, those were the only times he smiles when Haruto's not around.

Naturally, Heartland threw Haruto's good manners in his face. "I'm sorry, Haruto," he said, "but Kaito is currently getting looked at. Until they know for certain that he's fine, I'm afraid you can't see him."

Haruto's eyes looked like they were about to become faucets. Quinton suddenly forgot that he was hiding behind the corner and walked up to Heartland with a scowling face. "When will Kaito be allowed visitors?" he asked, ready to scream at his employer if he dared say anything in the negative about his student.

"Probably in about an hour," Heartland answered, clearly sensing Quinton's bloodlust. (No he didn't want to kill him. He was all set to turn Heartland's face black and blue though. Didn't really care that Haruto was right in front of him.) "I'll alert you when he's available."

"Please, I have to see Kaito Nii-san!" Haruto cried. "He'd do the same for me. Please!"

It might have been Haruto's good fortune that pulled a doctor out of the medical room, saying, "Kaito is fine. He can receive visitors now."

"Really?!" Haruto nearly screamed.

"Yes, Haruto-kun," the doctor said. ←[On good terms with the Tenjo brothers.] "Just remember, Kaito-kun is very sleepy still. He won't be waking up for a while yet."

Immediately, Haruto wrapped his arms around the man's leg. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Haruto's thanks came out so fast, not even Quinton could tell where the words had separated. As soon as he finished his thanks, he let go of the doctor's leg and ran straight into the room, Quinton following close behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Haruto burst through the door to Kaito's room. (They have a very big medical facility.) There was Kaito on one of the many beds, looking like he'd suffered from a nightmare. He was still in his torn up clothing, but the blanket that was draped over his body made that difficult to see. Haruto, with tears flowing down his eyes, ran right over to Kaito as fast as his tiny legs allowed and stopped at his side. "Nii-san!" he cried. "Nii-san, are you okay?"

Quinton to the rescue yet again. He placed his hand on the worried child's shoulder. "Don't worry, Haruto," he said. "Kaito's sleeping right now. You have to let him rest."

"Okay," Haruto said. Then he took his brother's limp hand. "Nii-san...always does this when I'm sleepy. He thinks I don't know, but one time, he fell asleep that way." Quinton wasn't surprised. That would be just like Kaito to not leave his brother's side like that. "And then people wondered why Kaito caught a cold that day," Haruto mused. "Too bad they didn't ask me. I could have told them that he caught it from me."

Quinton was all set to start laughing his silver head off.

Haruto then tightened his grip around his brother's hand a bit more and closed his eyes. "I'll stay right here until he wakes up," he said. "Just like Nii-san always does for me."

Almost on cue, Haruto could feel Kaito's cold fingers wrap around his hand. His eyes shot open and he found that Kaito had woken up. "Haruto?" Kaito asked. "What are you doing?"

Instantly, Haruto's little brother instincts kicked in and he wrapped his arms around his brother's neck. "Nii-san!" he cried. "You're okay!"

"Haruto," Quinton said, "you might want to let him go. Kaito still needs rest."

That was the only thing to pull Haruto away from his brother, who was starting to gasp for breath from the death lock that Haruto gave him. "You feeling any better, Nii-san?" Haruto asked.

"What happened?" Kaito wondered aloud.

"You fainted during our duel, remember?" Quinton asked.

"I did?"

Quinton nodded. "It seems he doesn't remember the power he displayed."

He placed his hand on Kaito's shoulder. "You just need to rest now," he said. "It was probably just accumulative fatigue."

Kaito had been working nonstop for the past week on his dueling skills. The most he had slept was probably about three hours. Not that he ever let it show. Heck, looking down at the barely awake Kaito, it wasn't too surprising that only Quinton and Haruto knew of his lack of sleep.

The young teen was about to object to resting more than he deemed necessary, but Quinton was firm. He gently held his hand out before Kaito and said, "I'll take care of Haruto until you can get back on your feet. So you just rest up again."

"Yeah, Nii-san," Haruto said. "You just rest. I do it enough."

Kaito wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to laugh at that remark. But he finally nodded his agreement and closed his eyes again. It was only after Haruto was certain that Kaito was asleep did he decide to leave, but not without giving his brother a quick kiss on the forehead, something Kaito did almost instinctively. Guess it came from not having their father around most of the time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, Kaito had to go to the Heartland Hospital for a quick checkup. Haruto and Quinton followed to make sure he was alright. That, and for Haruto, it was for moral support. (Kaito hated hospitals. A/N Might be the reason we never see him in one, don't you think?) They waited outside the examination room until Kaito stepped out, wearing his usual light pink shirt, brown pants and suspenders. He held a grey jacket in his hand to protect himself from the cold.

Immediately, Haruto stood up, Quinton following shortly after. "What did they say, what did they say?" Haruto asked nonstop.

Kaito bent down to his brother's height and hugged him. "It's okay, Haruto," he said. "They simply said I might have been a little tired and that I overexterted myself."

The whole hospital could hear Haruto's sigh of relief. Nobody could blame him though. One sick brother was bad enough. They didn't need the older one collapsing too.

A small smile came across Quinton's face. "Did they say anything else?" he asked. Once, Thomas had burned his side while playing near the fire. The doctors had told him not to sleep on his injured side until it healed. Not a very pretty memory for Quinton.

"Just that I have to be excused from dueling classes for the rest of the week," Kaito said. Quinton could easily hear the pain in Kaito's words. He loved his lessons with Quinton, regardless of what he had been going through as of late. It was the only time when he could be himself and, even for a moment, forget about his little brother's illness. He could enjoy himself during a duel, something he hadn't been able to do for a long time.

Quinton walked over to Kaito's side and patted his back. "Don't worry about it," he said. "A week isn't so long, when you think about it."

"Yeah," Haruto said. "The three of us can play with each other again. Just like we used to with Tou-san!"

Quinton saw Kaito freeze in his tracks at the mere mention of their father. "Come to think of it," Quinton thought, "I don't know who they're father is."

Naturally, the mood was too good for Quinton to bring up something as sensitive as the father topic.

But, like all good moods, it was very fragile, and only took one word to shatter it into a million pieces.

"Kaito!"

A kind of deep adult voice came from across the room. All the boys turned their heads to see a tall man with spiky blonde hair and purple eyes wearing the uniform of Heartland Tower. Dr. Faker.

Kaito stood up and stepped in front of Quinton, a slightly surprised look gracing his face. "Tou-san," he said, something that pierced Quinton's heart like an arrow.

Tou-san? Dr. Faker...Kaito's Tou-san?! No. It had to just be a nasty nightmare. There was no way that the innocent boys that he had befriended could be the progeny of the very same man who ruined his and his brothers lives. Could there?

Apparently, there was. Dr. Faker walked right up to his short, 13 year old son and hugged him. It was identical to the loving hug that Byron gave his sons when he returned from his work. "What are you doing here, Tou-san?" Kaito asked.

Dr. Faker pulled himself away from his son. "I heard about your fainting yesterday," he said. "I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Tou-san," Kaito mumbled. While he appreciated his father caring about his health, something seemed off with his timing. Why did he wait almost 12 hours before checking up on his son? Unless he came and visited him in the medical room when he was asleep, but Kaito was fairly certain he would have known. Dr. Faker has a unique scent. Takes 24 hours before the scent fades away, so you'd know where he was and how long ago he was there. (A/N Totally made this up.) That, and he has this crazy habit of ruffling his son's hair when he leaves a room, and the worst Kaito had was sweat-covered hair on one side. (Those hospital pillows are the worst.)

Quinton couldn't take it anymore. There was no more doubt in his mind that Dr. Faker was who Kaito said he was. He walked away...and didn't speak a word. But, of course, Kaito knew he left. And it worried him greatly. Quinton was never one for silent exits.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The night was greeted by heavy rain. Haruto was sound asleep upstairs in his room, ←[Closer to a floor, if you ask me.] and Kaito was working in the library, sitting beside the window. He was never one to focus on a book, but he was far from tired. Just thinking about sleeping kept him up. So he chose to read until his eyes desired it.

He turned to go and look at the rain when he saw him. Quinton, walking out of Heartland Tower, bag in hand. Panic took hold of the young teen's heart. Could he be leaving? Forgetting his jacket, Kaito ran out of the library and started for Quinton, running as fast as he could. "Quinton! Wait!" he cried. "Where are you going?" He was finally able to stop when he was a few feet away from his teacher.

But Quinton didn't turn back.

Kaito's mind was in a frenzy. Quinton had let his hair fall down instead of putting it up in his braid, as Kaito had so often seen. He was wearing a dark brown trench coat, the very same coat Quinton was wearing when he and Kaito had first met. His gloved hand was holding his small duffle bag, that which held all his personal possessions. Seeing all this drove the young teen to near-tears. He took hold of Quinton's shoulder, begging him to talk to him, when Quinton threw him to the ground, into a small puddle.

Kaito looked up at Quinton, only to freeze. The Quinton standing before him was not the Quinton he knew. It was a cold man with hatred in his eyes. "Quinton...," Kaito thought.

What did he do to deserve such anger being directed at him? Had he offended him in some way? If so, when? As these questions made their way through Kaito's mind, Quinton had time to walk away. "Quinton," was the only thing Kaito could say before Quinton's back was out of sight.

He tried to stand up. He tried to go after Quinton. More than anything, at that particular moment, he wanted to go after Quinton and get the answers to his questions. But his legs felt like jelly and his arms were the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground. Quinton's cold gaze had sapped all the strength out of his body. He forced himself forward, only to land on his knees and elbows. Then he allowed the building tears to fall, small though they might have been.

Then he felt a jacket being draped over his soaked shirt. He looked up and saw Dr. Faker, a sorrowful expression on his face, an umbrella over his head. "Kaito?" he asked. "What's the matter?"

Kaito didn't know what to say. What could he say in that situation? The truth, he supposed. He lowered his head and allowed the rain to hit his blonde hair. "Quinton, he," Kaito began. "He...he left. And he...he looked at me like I betrayed him." He couldn't say anything more. It felt as if his throat was tearing itself apart.

Dr. Faker could guess why Quinton had looked at him like that. He found out that Faker was Kaito's father. And Quinton vented all his anger for Faker out on Kaito, Faker's child. The doctor bent down and touched Kaito's shoulder. "Let's get you into some warm clothes, Kaito," he said. "You'll catch cold like this."

Kaito didn't move for a while after that, but he eventually complied and followed his father into the Tower, only looking back for a moment, hoping to catch a glimpse of Quinton once more.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A month after the incident, Kaito discovered the truth about Quinton's abrupt exit. Kaito had overheard a conversation between Faker and somebody on the other end of a portal. The being, which looked like a red spirit with wings, had mentioned the sacrifices of Kazuma Tsukumo and Byron Arclight, two names Kaito had grown up hearing. He had also mentioned how Haruto's power was necessary to destroy something called the Astral World. "Haruto's power?" Kaito wondered. "What are they talking about?"

"I've been handling my end of the bargain," Faker said. "Now you better handle your end, Barian!"

"**Rest assured. I shall,**" the spirit said. "**Just remember what you will lose if you fail. Then the sacrifices of Byron Arclight and Kazuma Tsukumo will have been in vain. Not to mention, the pain you put your dear, sweet Kaito through just recently. It only made sense that Quinton would run away after figuring out Kaito was your ****son****.**"

Kaito covered his mouth to muffle his gasp. "That's why Quinton left?" he thought. "Because Faker's my father?" He looked over to his father again.

"Just be sure to give Haruto your power," Faker said. "Once that's done, I'll handle the rest."

"**See that you do**," the spirit said. "**Waiting is not something I do best.**" With that, the spirit faded, and Faker let out a sigh.

Then Faker turned after seeing Kaito in the corner of his eye. The expression Kaito was wearing was that of fear, disbelief, and horror. "Kaito?" Faker asked.

"Was all that true?" Kaito asked. "Did you...Did you really sacrifice Tsukumo-san and Arclight-san?"

"Kaito..." Faker began.

"Answer me!" Kaito yelled. It was a tone he had never once used with his father, but after seeing what he had seen, manners were no longer high on his list. "Did you really sacrifice Tsukumo-san and Arclight-san!?"

Faker could see no way out of the question. "I did," he answered.

Kaito flashed Faker a glare that turned his spine into ice. "Why?" he asked, his voice turning into a growl.

"You don't need to know," Faker said simply.

Kaito looked up at Faker with surprise. "What? What are you talking about!?"

"You're too young to understand, Kaito," Faker said. "You'll learn in due time."

"Why do you always do this to me?!" Kaito screamed. Faker was taken aback. "You always hide stuff from me! When Haruto was sick, I had to find out for myself! You didn't tell me what you were doing when you left for a week and came back with your clothes torn to pieces. You didn't tell us why you wanted us to move to Heartland Tower. You didn't tell me about Arclight-san! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"There are some things you don't need to know, Kaito!" Faker said, now raising his voice so his son will be able to hear. "You're too young to understand, but what I am doing is for you and Haruto!"

"What am I too young to understand?!" Kaito screamed.

Faker looked at Kaito with a stern gaze. Kaito couldn't take it anymore. He was sick of all the secrets that Faker had been keeping from him. Secrets that ruined his friendship with Quinton. Secrets that pulled him out of school so he could focus more on his dueling. Secrets that forced him into a difficult practice duel that left him unconscious. Secrets that were tearing his entire world apart simply because Faker felt like it. His face red from anger and sadness, Kaito turned and ran towards his room.

Faker made no attempt to run after him. "I'm sorry, Kaito," Faker said softly. "When the time is right, I shall tell you. But right now, you truly are too young to understand."

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After that day, things changed between Kaito and Faker. The kind smiles that Kaito gave his father were dried up, replaced with a scowl. He no longer called him 'Father.' Instead, he called him 'Dr. Faker.' He became a cold boy, only warming up around his tiny brother. The power that he had demonstrated as a child had never revealed itself again.

Faker could no longer act like a father around Kaito. To do so led to an argument between the two of them, usually about Kaito not wanting Faker to act like that. So he kept his madman facade up at almost all times. How he wished he could take it back. But there was nothing else to do. He could only see his task through to the end.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**D.T.B: Too angsty? Just right? Needs more angst? You tell me. Personally, if this actually happened, I think I'd cry. (Maybe. Either that, or laugh at my awesomeness for actually thinking on the same page as the Japanese writers.) I watched the episode a week after it aired and I thought about what might have happened after the whole duel that we saw in the flashback. **

**My result, your comment. Please review. Sayonara~! **


End file.
